Inclusion Alberta is thankful for our partnership with Ready, Willing & Able (RWA), a national partnership that is funded by the Government of Canada and is designed to increase the labour force participation of people with an intellectual disability or on the autism spectrum. With the help of RWA, our Rotary Employment Partnership has created nearly 1,000 jobs to date across Alberta in diverse fields such as trades, hospitality, manufacturing, childcare, culinary, the arts and office administration. Real jobs for real pay.

ATS Traffic, a company that has provided integrated traffic safety solutions in Alberta nearly 60 years, has found great success by hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities through Inclusion Alberta’s Rotary Employment Partnership. Marc Gervais, VP of Corporate Operations at ATS Traffic, says that the initiative has not only positively impacted their bottom line but also demonstrated their commitment to community values, with one employee hired at each of their Edmonton and Calgary locations.

“At the end of the day, [hiring inclusively] makes your people better,” he says. “It is an experience that is good for your organization, number one, and number two, when Inclusion Alberta says, ‘We’ll support you and we will make this work’, that happens. That’s not fiction. You will be supported.”

After seeing first-hand the success of hiring an individual with an intellectual disability through the Partnership at their Edmonton location, ATS Traffic in Calgary tapped into this valuable labour pool and hired Daniel as a Warehouse Labourer. Daniel’s supervisor says that he has been a great fit so far, and does high quality work of the tasks assigned to him.

Thank you to ATS Traffic for being a committed inclusive employer and ally to individuals with intellectual disabilities!

Learn more about the possibilities of inclusive employment.